The conference, taking place in Montreal, provides an opportunity to address issues ranging from environmental impact on human and animal health and transmission of infectious diseases, to conservation and ecosystem management, to rural and urban development and planning. Scholarships to cover the event are available; June 3rd deadline.

The 2014 Climate Summit in New York is part of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s strategy to engage global leaders and advance climate action and ambition. The Summit is intended to be a solutions-focused Summit that is separate from, but complementary to, the UNFCCC negotiating process. It aims to provide evidence that leaders across sectors and at all levels are taking action, thus expanding the reach of what is possible today, in 2015, and beyond.

"As the climate warms, forest fires in the West increasingly will feast on acres of dry brush, growing into giants. In a cycle that will become routine, homeowners will flee, while firefighters will rush toward their houses — and away from areas where they could be putting out wildfires."

"Development of natural gas and wind resources in the Marcellus shale region could cover up nearly 1.3 million acres of land, an area bigger than the state of Delaware, with cement, asphalt and other impervious surfaces, according to a paper published this month in the scientific journal PLOS One."